No. 17 Gators advance to quarterfinals

24 days ago

Florida Athletics

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Freshman Deanne Rose's left-footed shot just beat the on-rushing goalkeeper. When it settled into the far post corner, the Gators rushed to celebrate the golden goal winner that sends UF to its sixth NCAA Quarterfinal appearance.

Florida advances to NCAA Round of Eight action after a 1-0 double overtime win over Washington State Sunday at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium.

The win assures that a representative from the Southeastern Conference is in the NCAA College Cup, set for Dec. 1 and 3 in Orlando, Fla. No. 3 regional seed Florida advances to play the region's top seed, South Carolina, Friday at 6 p.m. in Columbia, S.C. The Gamecocks advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinal Round with a 1-0 win over Santa Clara Sunday in Columbia, S.C.

How the Goal Was Scored:

Several Gator near misses were quickly forgotten when the golden goal scored in the 104th minute.

The play started when Parker Roberts stepped to the top of the Florida half to collect a WSU clearance attempt. She found Gabby Seiler high on the Cougar half. Seiler brought the ball down the middle and then sent it right to Laís Araujo just above the box.

Araujo took a touch to her right and crossed the ball to catch Rose making a slanted run through the box. Rose tracked down the ball to just beat the goalkeeper with a left-footed shot to the far corner.

For the match, the teams were even with 11 shots each and WSU held a 4-2 advantage in shots-on-goal.

Worth Noting:

• Florida advances to the NCAA Quarterfinal Round for the sixth time in the program's 21 appearances and first since 2014.

• This was the 12th overtime match for Florida in its 21 NCAA appearances (5-3-4 all-time in NCAA overtime matches)

• Seiler pushed out her team-leading assists total to eight and Araujo now has three assists for 2017.

• Florida now has 11 shutouts for 2017. Kaylan Marckese turned in her eighth of 2017 and 22nd shutout as a Gator. She moves to sole possession of third among Gator goalkeeper in solo shutouts.

• Florida is 3-1 in overtime matches this season. Washington State opened and ended the season with overtime matches. The Cougars were 1-2-4 in extended minutes this season and each of the seven were double overtimes.

• This was the first meeting between the two programs.

Records:

Florida: 17-6, 7-3 SEC

WSU: 10-8-4, 4-6-1 Pac 12

What the Gators Said:

Opening Statement

"Well first of all, we knew it was going to be quite the battle, and it was. I think a lot of credit goes to Washington State because they were putting some pressure on us. I thought our overall team defense - our backline and goalkeeper especially - played a great game.

"It was kind of a tale of two halves. The first half, we really weren't being ourselves, and in the second half, I think thanks to some leadership on the field we were able to start playing our game. Once we started doing that, at that point, I just really felt after halftime that it was our game. We had so many near misses and it was getting a little bit frustrating not scoring, but I just never felt like we weren't going to score.

"I really thought it was going to come, and I think with some perseverance and resilience, it did." - Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh

On the team's chances in overtime: "I don't know how to describe it. I just knew we were going to score. I knew it wasn't going to penalties. I knew we were going to score, and I knew that it was just going to take patience on our part to just keep going, and that's exactly what this team did." - Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh

On surviving and advancing: "The first half for us wasn't pretty, and I think it would have been easy for us to be like it's just not our day or this isn't working out, but the fact that we were really able to make a significant change, again I think that came from leadership on the field.

"The players just started working hard for each other and offering, playing and moving. Once we did that it was a really difficult challenge for Washington State because that type of soccer is really difficult to prepare for."

- Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh

On her goal: "I just remember Laís [Araujo] passing it to me, and I took a touch and then finished it." - freshman forward Deanne Rose

On the emotions after the goal: "It's just the best feeling in the world knowing how hard we were working and the resilience of this team the whole game. It was just an amazing feeling." - freshman forward Deanne Rose

On getting a second chance to score and making the most of it: "Definitely when I missed that shot [at end of first overtime] I was upset and frustrated because I was getting chances and wasn't finishing them, but I think just the encouragement of Becky and my teammates kept me going. Then I was able to finish the second chance." - freshman forward Deanne Rose

On the frustration and keeping calm during the match: "I think when you have that many chances and you're not scoring it can definitely be frustrating, but I think that has been the core of this team, just the resilience. We never give up. We knew we were going to score and I think there is a lot of power in belief. I think this team believes in ourselves, and I think that takes this team further than anything." - senior midfielder Gabby Seiler

On the backline's mentality: "Same thing as last game. Communication was key for us. Everyone communicated and if that isn't there we can't win games. That's why we won our game today." - junior defender Rachelle Smith